Double Amputee Hasaan Hawthorne Wins Alabama State Wrestling Championship

Hasaan Hawthorne was born without tibias. He lost his first leg when he was three months old and the other one two years ago. Hawthorne uses prosthetics to walk around, but wrestles without anything on the ends of his legs.

Yesterday, he capped an undefeated senior season with a 6A division Alabama state wrestling championship in the 145-pound class. Hawthorne came back from a first period deficit to beat Landon Thompson soundly. Last year, he got all the way to third place in the state meet, and this year he finally took the championship.

So, how does someone without lower legs get the leverage to win wrestling matches? He has a tremendous reach for his weight class, which allows him to dictate the point of contact, and his wrist control has drawn comparisons to an anaconda. As you can see, he’s also real damn strong.

Hawthorne was named the Most Valuable Wrestler of the 6A division, and told AL.com that he was planning on wrestling in college. He started wrestling in middle school and said he was inspired by Arizona State’s Anthony Robles, who won the 2011 NCAA Championship with one leg. AL.com has a very good in-depth profile on Hawthorne’s journey to state champion,

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